The Sound of Music (song)

“The Sound of Music” is the title song from The Sound of Music, composed by Richard Rodgers to lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It was originally sung by Mary Martin in the 1959 stage musical of the same name. It was sung by Julie Andrews in the 1961 film, with a reprise by the Von Trapp family later in the film. The song introduces the character Maria, a young novice in an Austrian abbey.

The song was ranked tenth in the American Film Institute's list of the 100 Greatest Songs in Movie History.

The stage version of the song has a four-line vocal prelude ("My day in the hills has come to an end I know...) followed by the familiar "The hills are alive with the sound of music..." The film soundtrack and the soundtrack album have two different instrumental preludes to "The hills are alive..." both of which contain portions of the original vocal prelude. The cast album to the 1998 Broadway revival contains the four-line prelude as well as the instrumental prelude present in the film version. This version is also the same key as the film version.

Italio-American opera/romantic, crossover artist Sergio Franchi recorded the song in his 1963 RCA Victor Red Seal album Broadway, I Love You.^[1]

In 2007, Grammy-winning and multi-platinum country recording artist Carrie Underwood sang a rendition at the Movies Rock festival.

This song is referenced many times in the film Moulin Rouge!, and the well known verse "the hills are alive with the sound of music" also appears in the movie Yellow Submarine.

Australian pop princess Kylie Minogue performed the opening lines at the beginning of her KylieFever2002 Tour and in the film Moulin Rouge!.

The Julie Andrews recording from the film features in the film Addams Family Values (1993).

Renee Zellweger performs the song in Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004).

Per Gessle played this song as an opening for his European solo tour The Party Crasher.

JLS sample the song on their 2010 single "The Club Is Alive".

References